Dual-cycle CO2 fixation enhances growth and lipid synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants fix carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, converting it into organic compounds. However, during photorespiration and lipid biosynthesis, significant amount the fixed carbon is released back into the atmosphere. To solve this inefficiency, we introduced a synthetic carbon-fixing cycle, named McG cycle, into plants with native Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (CBB), creating an unprecedented “dual-cycle carbon fixation” system. This system can convert the two-carbon (C2) byproduct glycolate from photorespiration, or the three-carbon (C3) compound from the Calvin cycle with additional CO₂, into the high-energy two-carbon molecule acetyl-CoA. The plants carrying this system produce more lipids, improves photosynthetic efficiency and effectiveness, enhances carbon fixation efficiency by about 50%, and increases plant biomass and seed yield by 2–3 times.

This research program led by Academia Sinica President James Liao, executed by first author Dr. Kuan-Jen Lu, Associate Research Fellow at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center (ABRC). The work was completed through interdisciplinary collaboration. Participating researchers from ABRC included Director Kuo-Chen Yeh, and Chia-Wei Hsu, Ya-Wen Chou, Chih-Yu Lin, Chen-Yun Ting, Ting-Hsiang Chang from the Metabolomics Core Facility at Academia Sinica.

News>> https://www.sinica.edu.tw/news_content/55/3304

Kuo-Chen Yeh Kuan-Jen Lu

Kuan-Jen Lu, Chia-Wei Hsu, Wann-Neng, Jane, Mien-Hao Peng, Ya-Wan Chou, Pin-Hsuan Huang, Kuo-Chen Yeh, Shu-Hsing Wu, and James C. Liao (2025) Dual-cycle CO2 fixation enhances growth and lipid synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana Science, http://doi: 10.1126/science.adp3528